Chapter 8 - The Assault
Glass exploded as eighteen-year Scotch and heavy oak smashed directly into Tommy Vane’s nose, sending him crashing backward over his chair in a shower of blood and liquor.
Before O'Leary’s guards could draw their weapons, the rear emergency exit door blew inward with a deafening flashbang explosion.
Smoke filled the room.
"GO! GO! GO!" Liam’s voice roared through the haze.
Matthew Cole was the first through the breach.
Dressed in black tactical gear, he moved like a phantom through the smoke. Two guards raised their pistols; Matthew fired four suppressed shots before they could pull their triggers, dropping them instantly to the floor.
O'Leary scrambled toward a side window, pulling a heavy shotgun from under the poker table.
"Cole!" O'Leary screamed, aiming the barrel toward the smoke.
Penny, lying flat behind the heavy mahogany side bar, saw O'Leary pointing the weapon right toward where Matthew was advancing.
Without thinking, Penny grabbed a heavy brass floor lamp beside her and swung it with everything she had, slamming it straight into the back of O'Leary’s knees.
The mob boss bellowed in pain, his legs buckling beneath him, the shotgun blast discharging harmlessly into the wooden ceiling.
Matthew stepped out of the smoke, grabbed O'Leary by his collar, and slammed him face-first onto the poker table, pinning him with a heavy combat boot pressed against his neck.
In less than ninety seconds, the entire room was secured. Vane was unconscious on the floor, O'Leary was pinned, and Matthew's men held every exit.
Matthew turned his head frantically through the settling smoke, his voice laced with rare, terrifying panic. "Penny!"
"I'm here!" Penny gasped, sitting up from behind the bar, her hair messy, her apron torn at the shoulder, but completely unharmed.
Matthew abandoned O'Leary to Liam, striding across the room in three long steps.
He dropped to his knees in front of her, his big hands cupping her face, checking her frantically for blood or injuries.
"Are you hit? Did they touch you?" Matthew demanded, his dark eyes searching hers with intense emotion.
"I'm fine," Penny panted, a breathless smile breaking across her lips. "I hit O'Leary with a lamp."
May you like
Matthew stared at her for two seconds, then let out a low, deep laugh. He pulled her against his chest, holding her so tightly she could feel the fierce, erratic pounding of his heart through his body armor.
"You are completely insane," Matthew whispered into her hair. "And I am never letting you out of my sight again."
